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The Forum deals with raising awareness around an issue or initiative: in 2002 the discussion was led by an informal panel of 8 women from newly organised sectors of USWA that are predominately female as well as women who have done some organising of unorganised workers.
Open microphones at the Forum encourage women to participate from the floor in order to help build their self-confidence to do the same on the Convention floor, something that rarely happened prior to the Forums and the USWA's Women of Steel educational efforts.
At each subsequent Convention, the USWA has seen women speaking on all resolutions and making up close to 50% of the delegates who speak at the microphones.
USWA now uses female speakers at the Convention and women to introduce speakers, so increasing women's visibility, building their confidence and changing the culture to become more inclusive.
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